Return iPhone 4 for Captivate

[jeffnucci]

I am thinking about returning my iPhone 4 for a Captivate and I wanted some thoughts. OBJECTIVE thoughts. I had a Droid, I also have a Pixi from Palm. I'm not a stupid fanboy that says screw Apple or Android so if you make a comment like "You don't have to hold this one a certain way, Captivate all the way!" You aren't helping. I LOVE my iPhone 4 but all I ever miss when I don't have an iPhone is the App Store and easy syncing in iTunes. I loved my droid but hated the physical keyboard.

So thoughts and comments?

 

[Jeremy]

I'd say you should at least go into the store and play around with the Samsung before making a choice. I'm going to be picking one up but will be keeping my iPhone 4 as well. Just bought a SIM adapter. Both platforms have some great features to offer, just depends on what you are looking for in your device.

 

[Droid800]

Missing the App store and iTunes are two VERY big hurdles, because the Android alternatives just aren't quite there yet.

For the App store, the Android market is getting there, but is still dominated by lots of crap, and some janky apps that won't work well on newer handsets. There are some very good apps, and a lot of updates that can rival any iPhone counterparts, but they're still a little slow out of the gate. If you're someone that uses a lot of iPhone only apps, or is used to the App store, this may be a big hurdle for you.

For iTunes, you could use doubletwist, especially if you have a lot of playlists. But like the market, the program is pretty much not there yet. While I had my nexus one I used doubletwist to sync my media, and it was, in my experience a piece of junk. Its a crapshoot whether it will sync everything, and I had more than a few times where I started up the program only to have it freeze before even loading. A lot of people like it, so my impressions are obviously my own, but if you're looking for a good iTunes replacement, you won't find it in Double Twist.

 

[Jeremy]

Missing the App store and iTunes are two VERY big hurdles, because the Android alternatives just aren't quite there yet.

For the App store, the Android market is getting there, but is still dominated by lots of crap, and some janky apps that won't work well on newer handsets. There are some very good apps, and a lot of updates that can rival any iPhone counterparts, but they're still a little slow out of the gate. If you're someone that uses a lot of iPhone only apps, or is used to the App store, this may be a big hurdle for you.

For iTunes, you could use doubletwist, especially if you have a lot of playlists. But like the market, the program is pretty much not there yet. While I had my nexus one I used doubletwist to sync my media, and it was, in my experience a piece of junk. Its a crapshoot whether it will sync everything, and I had more than a few times where I started up the program only to have it freeze before even loading. A lot of people like it, so my impressions are obviously my own, but if you're looking for a good iTunes replacement, you won't find it in Double Twist.

I prefer Missing Sync over doubletwist but the price is high. Works much better IMHO.

 

[Joeybear23]

I really like Media Monkey, but have not used it with an android device. I have only used it with MP3 players.

As for the market, since the GalaxyS will be on every carrier in the US by Fall, the next several months should see a lot of new app development specifically for it.

 

[supahgreg]

I switched from an iPhone 3G to the Captivate yesterday, and thus far my biggest issues are with the mail client and market.

The Captivate comes with the basic Android "Email" app, and also a "Gmail" app. Neither have a UI comparable to the iPhone "Mail" app or Google's own web-based Gmail. In a perfect world they would bring over some of the design talent from the web side of things to improve Android, bringing it much closer to the web experience.

There are supposedly alternative e-mail clients (Maildroid and k9mail being the major ones, I think) but I haven't tried them yet.

The Market, frankly, is not good. You would think Google, master of the search universe, could organize things better. Thankfully appbrain.com (a step up from the Android Market) and other websites help make sense of the mess. Most of the apps I used on my iPhone 3G also have an Android version, thankfully, so I didn't have to look around too much.

That being said, I am enjoying the Android experience, and the phone itself is sexy. I'm certain things will continue to get better over time.

 

[tlo07]

That is a tough choice. I have a white iPhone 4 on pre-order from Best Buy (I'm assuming they will still get them some day!). I am adding a line for the Captivate tomorrow (then putting my sim in the captivate and putting the new sim in my daughter's go-phone) but I'm up in the air about early-upgrading my 3gs for the iP4 now. I have a good collection of music in iTunes. Can a person drag unprotected songs onto the captivate directly with a computer or put them on the micro sd and then pop the micro sd into the phone to get your music on it? That is the beauty of the iPhone. Everything works so well together. Android is new territory for me.

 

[awtryau89]

Just posted this in another thread. I am very similar to the OP in that I have used Android for a while before and really liked it alot. Not an Apple fanboy but ultimately if someone held a gun to my head and told me I could only use one phone I guess it would have to the iPhone. I guess I just answered my own questions but I will still demo the Captivate.


This is going to be a very interesting side by side for me. I have used a G1 and then a Rogers Magic on AT&T before our company gave us iPhones. I just got the 4 and love it but something about that Sept 30 date has me worried. I do not want to be an iPhone 4 owner when they actually do fix the antenna hardware issue and have no recourse to get the Rev A phone. This has me thinking of swapping the 4 for the Captivate and sitting tight until fall on the iPhone 4. I still have my 3GS my company gave me as well as 2 Family Plan upgrades. Decisions, decisions. What say you guys?

 

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Definitely go into a store and check it out in person. It all boils down to what you need from the device and which works best for you. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. And both platforms are constantly in Dev and have new things being introduced. I might give a slight edge to the Android device simply because of the possibilities brought forth by rooting that's not so much with the i4. Good luck with your decision, hard to go wrong with either one.

 

[Beezzy]

I just wish there was something to make Movies easier for Android phones. They talk bout them all the time on how good they look but don't offer a video service. I want all my iTunes Digital Copies in my Evo. :'(

 

[Kyle Gibb]

AppBrain.com, along with their Android app + the Fast Web Installer beat the pants of iTunes IMO. You can quickly browse around and send apps to your phone that get installed automatically. Its pretty amazing.

 

[CSI Guy]

On my way to do just that.

 

[awtryau89]

Well, I tried the Lets Talk option yesterday. For $229 I was all game. After my cancellation notice I decided to head to the AT&T store today. I have 4 lines on a family plan and 1 Line on Business Premier. I buy my kids phones off Craigslist and "hand me down" my old phones. Then I get their upgrades. I have 2 more upgrades this year and another coming in May of 2011. Anyway, I was set to buy this phone.

I must say after playing with it in the store, I walked out confidently that I was lucky not to get one at $229 yesterday. I am not an Apple fanboy. At least I thought I wasn't before. Maybe I am one now. I never owned an iPhone before Dec of 2009. I used Blackberries and Android before that. I have owned a G1, Magic and Nexus 1 previously. They Captivate has a bigger screen. Thats about all I could find I liked better. EVen the bigger screen isn't nearly as good as the iPhone's in terms of responsiveness. Next to the Captivate was the Aria. I must say the Aria's screen and responsiveness was better IMO. Before anyone starts on me about what was installed and what was running in the background and such, I totally killed everything. I took the phone did a factory rest, let it boot and restart. It was clean. Even so, Android doesn't really need a taskiller, does it? ;-) Overall I just could not get over the "cheap" feel of the device. Again, I am comparing to the iPhone and also the Aria. Maybe I am an iPhone and HTC fanboy. Other things that bother me is Android can't get EAS right yet in their mail clients. I also tried a call or 2 on an agents phone and the call quality is not close to what I hear on my iPhone.

Good luck to those with this phone. I will get another Android phone when Froyo comes out and things improve. I am a phone junkie. Even so, I am starting to feel the spirit of Steve Jobs come over me more and more. All of the things I truly like about Android originally are things I see not necessary any longer. The Apple ecosystem is closed but it is really really good. Not only that, when we get Jailbreak, all bets are off. I guess I will patiently wait for the next superphone from Android. The Droid X, Captivate and Incredible haven't raised the bar enough. Even to have them as a second phone option.

 

[Joemhz]

I returned my iPhone simply because I have no service in places where my 3G worked fine. I ordered a captivate yesterday as a replacement. If I can make calls in places I could not with the ip4' I will be a happy camper.

Although I have not used the phone in person, the flexibility for customization appears far Superior to the iPhone. If nothing else, one can fix the minor annoyances that have plaqued the iPhone since day 1

 

[gspeed]

Welcome to Android. You will like this device very much. Learning curve is not that steep.

 

[ranova]

I, too, have just switched from almost 4 years of iPhone.

While having the 3GS, I tried out the Evo 4g for 30days with Sprint and fell in love with Android and it's offerings. Sure, theres not many games and some apps fall short of the iPhone's, but everything else is so customizable.

Unfortunately, I am still on contract with ATT so I had to return the Evo. I bought the iPhone 4, hoping that it would satisfy my needs, but as a Poweruser, it doesnt. iOS is just so bland and boring now. I love messing around with stuff and even with Jailbreaking, it wasn't enough.

Steve Jobs and how he handled the whole "AntennaGate" crap was really the last straw. I did not want to support the company, and I was already debating an Android phone.

My options were the Nexus One for $579, the Aria, or this new gem called the Captivate.

Luckily, I waited out for the Captivate. Its a great phone!

To the guy that said that Aria was snappier, Dont use touchwiz, get launcher pro and everything flies. Only quirks I have with the phone: LONG *** time for it to get a solid GPS lock and the back... it feels like a damn chalkboard and makes me cringe when I scratch it.